WHITTLE FIRES UP
THE Townsville Fire have added some spark to their bench for the upcoming WNBL season, with the signing of former college star Marena Whittle.
The versatile guard is expected to play a key role in the Fire’s rotation after the powerhouse club failed to feature in the grand final for the first time since 2012 last season.
Having completed an impressive college career at North Dakota, Whittle is currently playing for Nunawading in the South East Australian Basketball League where she is averaging 15.8 points, 9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists.
The Fire have been in talks with the Melbourne- raised guard for the past 18 months, but Whittle wanted to finish her degree before making the step up to the WNBL.
Coach Claudia Brassard said competing against the nation’s best players would be a learning curve for Whittle, but she was excited to see what the 23- year- old would bring to the Fire.
“She’s a really good rebounding guard so she’ll fill a nice hole backing up Mia ( Murray) for us,” Brassard said.
“We were hoping to get more consistency out of the bench last year and we’re trying to bring in some players who will provide that for us, especially defensively and rebounding wise.
“She’ll be a rookie in the league and looking to prove herself, but I’m excited by her athleticism, her height, and she’s quite strong.
“I tried to get her here last year, but she’s a pretty grounded person and she wanted to go back and finish her uni and make sure she graduated before she took the next step in basketball.
“She was certainly being chased by a few of the Melbourne teams so it was nice to see that she took the leap of faith and came up here. She knows Amy Kame and Amy had lots of good things to say about us.
“The advantage for her is she’s playing in SEABL so she’ll be aware of some of the players she’ll have to defend and play against, but being a new player in the league is always a bit of an adjustment.”
Whittle joins a star- studded Fire roster that includes Olympians Suzy Batkovic, Micaela Cocks and Cayla George, as well as WNBL championship winners Darcee Garbin, Mia Murray, and Kelly Wilson.
The Fire have two import positions still available and Brassard said they were working behind the scenes to finalise their roster for what shapes as a much tougher competition this season.
“Our roster is starting to take shape and certainly there’s lots of good players coming back into the league,” Brassard said.
“It’s going to be a really big league with ( Liz) Cambage and Abby Bishop and Louella ( Tomlinson) so I think all teams are ramping up for that. If you ask me now, I think we can match them
“Having said that, it’s a shorter season and you’re going to get less training court time and less prep time for games so you need a smart team.
“The advantage is we’ve got quite a useful group coming back.”
Townsville Fire squad: Suzy Batkovic, Micaela Cocks, Darcee Garbin, Cayla George, Mia Murray, Marena Whittle, and Kelly Wilson.